How do I even begin to wrap up a month as wild as this one. We are living in an unprecedented global situation so I can’t pretend that everything is normal. COVID-19 is changing our world as we know it with consequences ranging from inconvenient to catastrophic – depending on many variables. What I can do is tell you what we managed to do before the world (almost) stopped turning and what we are doing now to cope. Know that I am praying for you and I am here if you need to vent or have prayer requests or just need to communicate with someone other than your kids! Pop over to my contact tab and send me an e-mail or comment on this blog post. Or click on my social media buttons on the right hand side of this page. To quote from the modern day classic High School Musical, “We’re all in this together.”

We started the month with some presidential primaries. Maybe that should have been an ominous foreshadowing of things to come. I picked up an extra work shift helping at a memorial service. That was an interesting first, but now that I can’t work at all because I’m in the fitness/ service industry, I’m thankful for those few extra hours.

I praised God for one friend and one family member who received favorable medical news this month and thanked Him for the opportunity to have lunch with both sisters and two childhood friends – all together. So fun. We were in church youth group together just a couple of years ago. Such great memories. And then a couple of days later, my favorite hairdresser/friend (ok she’s the only one who fits both of those descriptions for me) treated me to the best chinese restaurant. Yum!

My 15 year old daughter spent the genesis of her spring break in Austin helping out our church plant there. Then I took her to get her first hair highlights (done by the same fabulous hairdresser/ friend). My oldest, Shelby, enjoyed Camp Summit during her time off of school (little did we know there was much more time off to come). This camp for special needs kids and adults provides fun, healthy activities for her and much needed respite from caregiving for my husband and myself.

The second half of spring break, we headed to the St. Louis area to see our son and his kids. Being with them is always a whirlwind of activity including a trip to Meramec Caverns, ice cream treats, playing outside and a disgusting round of Beanboozled! I really enjoyed getting to see our son and put my arms around him during a difficult time.

Then the times got more difficult. With the announcements that the kids would be out of school for two weeks (at least) and my son needing to work as a doctor, we made the last minute decision to bring the two oldest kidlets back to Texas with us. So this very non-kid person has been entertaining without the benefit of movie theaters, bowling alleys, libraries or any other public attractions. I know many of you can relate right now. So we have done online art classes, music lessons, cookie baking, game playing and lots of park time when the weather permitted. Thanks to some amazing neighbors we even acquired a bike and a scooter for them to use.

Tucked in around the edges of grandparenting, we watched Dolly Parton’s Heart Strings. I loved most of the stories but wouldn’t recommend all. We checked out Stargirl on Disney+ with our teen. A sweet teen-centric drama. She also talked us into The Perfect Date with Noah Centineo. The hubs and I caught Murder Mystery, Always Be My Maybe and Brad Paisley’s Comedy Rodeo. We also watched the first episode of the Netflix series Murderous Affairs (Don’t judge. I unfortunately knew the subjects.), and a couple episodes of The Movies that Made Us and The Toys that Made Us. My sister and I caught Emma at the movie theater and I finished two books – Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God, a Broken Mother’s Search for Hope by Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan, and Wally Funk’s Race for Space: The Extraordinary Story of a Female Aviation Pioneer by Sue Nelson (mentioned in last week’s post).

To wrap up, reader friends, the days ahead will not be easy. Just know that it’s ok to have lows – to feel sad or frustrated or even a little anxious. But lean into our Heavenly Father. None of this surprises Him and He is our ultimate source of comfort and purpose. And I consider it an honor to pray for you. If you need to vent or have specific needs, please reach out to me. And tell me, too, if you have been given the gift of extra time (I realize this does not apply to everyone), what are you doing with it?

And now for this week’s featured post!

I love the honesty and realism that Linda Stoll expresses in This One’s for Anyone Who’s Not Feeling Especially Strong and Courageous Right Now. The truth is that you can hold both anxiety and faith in God at the same time. So often we pressure ourselves that it has to be one or the other, but this post shows what it is to be human – and have faith. Visit Linda at lindastoll.net and thank her for linking up.

Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.

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Join us each Friday for the Grace and Truth Link-Up!

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Dear Teenage Daughter,

You aren’t entitled to obey only when you feel like it.

You aren’t entitled to make all your own decisions.

You aren’t entitled to an allowance without contributing to the chores in our household.

You aren’t entitled to stay out as late as you want.

You aren’t entitled to all the fineries and material goods that your friends can afford.

You aren’t entitled to free speech at the expense of others’ feelings.

You aren’t entitled to a 24 hour parent ATM.

You aren’t entitled to treat your parent like an on-call uber, cook or maid.

You aren’t entitled to take your anger and frustration out on those who love you.

And you aren’t entitled to the freedoms of adulthood with none of the responsibility.

But Dear Teenage Daughter,

I am not entitled to reciprocate when you lash out.

I am not entitled to a stress and drama-free home.

I am not entitled to build a protective bubble to keep you from hurting or stumbling.

I am not entitled to singular control over my time and resources.

I am not entitled to a clutterless existence.

I am not entitled to make all your decisions for you.

I am not entitled to discipline out of pride or anger.

I am not entitled to lay on a guilt trip when you’d rather not be with me.

I am not entitled to behavior from you that makes me “look good”.

And I am not entitled to keep you a little girl forever.

But just maybe, there is enough grace to cover us both. I love you.

For of His fullness ^[a]we have all received, and ^[b]grace upon grace. John 1:16

Now for this week’s featured post!

People are Hard to Hate Up Close by Laurie Hess of Meditations in Motion.

Laurie has said here what I have struggled to say before, with a great personal story touch and even a social media call to action! Let’s get personal, drop the generalities and love each other better. Click here to read the post.

Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.